Below are definitions from a site dedicated to Operant Conditioning.

http://r-plusdogtraining.info/lexicon.htm

Reinforcement = anything that strengthens a behavior
Punishment = anything that suppresses a behavior
Positive = something added to influence a behavior
Negative = something taken away to influence a behavior

These are comprehensive DESCRIPTIONS that do indeed encompass the phenomenon of learning so it is possible to DESCRIBE Natural Dog Training through these terms of behavioral science. However they are superficial and ultimately meaningless because descriptions are not definitions. These “definitions” don’t say anything about the process of learning within the dog’s mind. Now a behavioral scientist would immediately complain that they are strictly studying the external behavior of an animal and have no need to consider what’s going on “under the hood.” But then when pressed about comparative behavior between species and between the same individual from one context to another, they always resort to the latest finding on neuro-anatomy and neuro-chemistry as a way of dealing with the question of comparative behavior and variability across the spectrum of behavior, thereby revealing the internal contradiction at the heart of learning theory that it needs to turn away from observed behavior in order to justify itself. They always reference some material function “under the hood” that’s inside the brain or genetically encoded. NDT only studies the observed behavior and never reads a thought/intention/reason into the behavior of the animal or ascribes to its genes some mysterious “intention” to replicate itself.

In order to entertain the distinction between describing and explaining, consider the following “definitions.”

Fuel = anything that adds speed to a car
Brakes = anything that reduces the speed of a car
Positive = something added to influence the behavior of a car
Negative = something taken away to influence the behavior of a car

These descriptions masquerading as definitions are right some of the time, however once we know what’s going on inside the car we can immediately see how they are sorely deficient as well. For example, when the key is turned and the car starts, saying that the car ASSOCIATES starting up with the turning of a key isn’t really saying much. It merely describes that a car starts when the key is turned. Such a description does have some value because a driver now knows they need to turn the key to start the car, however if one day the car doesn’t start when the key is turned, one finds themselves forced to look under the hood because the question remains, why does the car start when the key is turned? Why does one dog WORK for a food reward and yet another one doesn’t? Why does a dog work for food in one context, but then doesn’t in another? Are there such things as “high value” rewards according to some human rationale or rather is there a consistent LAW OF NATURE that can take us under the hood and reveal the consistency that’s going on within all dogs, within all animals, and that simultaneously generates variability from individual to individual, from context to context, and from species to species?

Related Posts

1. What’s the difference between Natural Dog Training and Operant Conditioning?
   

   Natural Dog Training is fundamentally concerned with motive whereas Operant Conditioning is fundamentally concerned with reinforcements. All subsequent points of departure proceed from this distinction.
   Furthermore, this distinction reveals that two concepts integral to behavioral science 1) animals learn by reinforcement, and 2) the notion of “high value” rewards actually represent an inherent contradiction in terms [...]

2. I was just told that Kevin Behan is into the old wolf pack theory etc…
   

   Actually, I may be the first one to discredit the “old wolf pack theory.” Rather I am into the canine “group theory” and the first to posit the distinction between pack and group, and that there’s no such thing as Alpha-Leader-hood. In 1991 David Mech wrote in “The Way of the Wolf” p. 36: “Perhaps [...]

3. I agree there is energy – everything does have energy – but there are also plain old basic learning principles that have been around for a long time.
   

   Behavioral science is indeed being consistent by not using the term energy, and it’s also quite wise to avoid any use of the term because once we add energy into a discussion of behavior, then the paradigm shifts wholesale. On the other hand we can’t agree that there is energy, that everything has energy, and [...]

4. October 23 – 25 Seminar: Journey to the Heart of the Dog
   

   The connection between dogs and human beings is far more profound than ever imagined. The only animal to integrate themselves into every aspect of human existence, dogs know us “by heart.” Learn what bonds humans and dogs and each dog to its owner. Thinking is what separates our two species; feelings are what we have [...]

5. Behan is too new-agey in his explanations to be taken seriously. He also dismisses large tracks of learning theory and psychology and ethology. He prefers undefined explanations like “emotional circuitry of dog and owner” Frankly I tend to dismiss and distrust anyone that talks about ‘energy’ or ‘vibrations’ to explain animal behavior.
   

   I don’t dismiss behavioral science and I value its many astute observations and precise descriptions; however it is missing the fundamental element of behavior, to wit: the animal’s nature which is an evolved function of energy. So what is energy?
   Science understands energy as an “action potential,” as a differential in concentration of “charged” particles between [...]

Share

Click to purchase the Natural Dog Training Book!

Natural Dog Training is about how dogs see the world and what this means in regards to training. The first part of this book presents a new theory for the social behavior of canines, featuring the drive to hunt, not the pack instincts, as seminal to canine behavior. The second part reinterprets how dogs actually learn. The third section presents exercises and handling techniques to put this theory into practice with a puppy. The final section sets forth a training program with a special emphasis on coming when called.

Tags: definitions, descriptions, law of nature, negative, operant conditioning, positive, punishment, reinforcement, under the hood

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 11:17 am and is filed under Frequently Asked Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.